BRAZIL WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN KOSOVO WORLD BANK VOTE

UNCLAS BRASILIA 000677

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIN PREL KV BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN KOSOVO WORLD BANK VOTE

REFS: A) STATE 47369 B) STATE 33629 C) BRASILIA 490 D)
Barrett/Freudenwald 5/5 email



1. (SBU) Summary: An official in the Ministry of Finance confirmed
that Brazil will not cast a vote on Kosovo's World Bank application.
The official told Econoff that the Ministry of External Relations
(MRE) had directed Finance Minister Mantega not to vote on the
upcoming Kosovo World Bank bid, and cited the pending International
Court of Justice opinion on Kosovo's independence as the reason why
Brazil preferred not to participate. (Note: Brazil did not cast a
vote on the May 5 Kosovo IMF bid for the same reason. End note.)
End Summary.


2. (SBU) The Ministry of Finance official, a Coordinator General for
Economic Affairs in the International Affairs Secretariat, relayed
that Ambassador Marcos Galvao, the International Affairs Secretary,
understood that not voting at all has the potential to make a larger
statement than an "abstain vote" since Brazil has effectively chosen
not to contribute to a quorum. The official said that Brazil
believes nonetheless that not voting is the preferred way not to
participate in the decision.


3. (SBU) The Ministry of Finance official said that MRE, as a point
of foreign policy, does not want to act with respect to Kosovo while
the International Court of Justice has still not rendered an advisory
opinion on Kosovo's independence. MRE contacts have told Embassy
Brasilia that Brazil does not want to take any position on Kosovo
until there is a clear UN outcome on its political status. They
believe not voting is more consistent with this stance than
abstention, even though not voting would favor the Serb position.

KUBISKE